Good for them. Too much at risk for both not to reach an agreement. It could have been a PR nightmare for CDI without the Derby signal to Illinois, a distraction from all of the Derby coverage and festivities. Wonder if having the CDI big wigs in town helped reach an agreement.

Or didn't hate it totally. ggenie's reaction wasn't what I would call wild enthusiasm.

Im sure that each person will have their opinion of the final contract. While they might not be wildly enthusiastic, the fact they signed a 2 year deal leads me to believe that it's a deal they are happy with.

Did anyone ever really think that on-line gaming would be approved in Illinois? The players still can't agree on how to carve up the slots pie. I think that on-line gaming may be a chip to concede in the ongoing negotiations for slots.

"The Arlington/ITHA agreement was reached late Tuesday night after negotiations that began at 3 p.m. Arlington was represented by chairman Dick Duchossois and general manager Tony Petrillo and the ITHA by executive director Glen Berman, trainer Chris Block and owners Rick Johnson and Bob Sedlacek."

Sure puts the lie to the story that Churchill Downs Inc. is the bad guy in all these things.

"The Arlington/ITHA agreement was reached late Tuesday night after negotiations that began at 3 p.m. Arlington was represented by chairman Dick Duchossois and general manager Tony Petrillo and the ITHA by executive director Glen Berman, trainer Chris Block and owners Rick Johnson and Bob Sedlacek."

Sure puts the lie to the story that Churchill Downs Inc. is the bad guy in all these things.

Since the stockholders' meeting was in the morning with all the directors and executives present, maybe some influence was used on AP to spur on the negotiations in the afternoon and night.

"The Arlington/ITHA agreement was reached late Tuesday night after negotiations that began at 3 p.m. Arlington was represented by chairman Dick Duchossois and general manager Tony Petrillo and the ITHA by executive director Glen Berman, trainer Chris Block and owners Rick Johnson and Bob Sedlacek."

Sure puts the lie to the story that Churchill Downs Inc. is the bad guy in all these things.

Terry, CDI is notorious for trying to short-change everyone else. They do not like paying their fair share of the costs. A couple of years ago, Churchill did not want to pay their share of jockey insurance. They finally caved in and paid it. I'd like to see them have horse racing at Churchill without jockeys. They kept $50 from people looking for Derby tickets when they had none to sell. They started charging the backstretch people at Calder for dorm rooms and they started charging for stalls after Calder's meet when it was too late for horsemen to send their horses to Gulfstream or a training center. Gulfstream helped pick up some of those costs by helping the horsemen out.

What happened at Arlington this year, in my opinion, is all CDI driven because there is a trend in how they operate. They could never have recaptured in stall rent what they would have lost with the loss of simulcasts but that is their strategy to first give it a try to charge more. Mr. D helped to resolve the dispute. He is a horseman himself and his one true love is Arlington. He may be Arlington's Chairman but it is still a CDI-owned track.